Legal expert: Why Trump’s first criminal trial is 'bigger than Michael Cohen alone'



Donald Trump lawyers representing the ex-president in his first criminal trial maintain that former Trump lawyer and star witness Michael Cohen's testimony can't possibly be credible due to the fact that he was convicted in 2018 of lying about hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Politico noted last week that "while the prosecution’s ability to prove its case at trial could hinge on Cohen’s first-hand account of the hush money arrangement, Cohen also may be its most problematic witness due to long-running questions about his ability to tell the truth."

However, Albany Law School Associate Dean for Research and Intellectual Life Ray Bresca argues in a Monday, April 22 op-ed for the Daily Beast, that the trial is much "bigger" than Cohen's credibility.

READ MORE: What the prosecution wants from first hush money trial witness’s testimony: legal expert

He writes, "A funny thing happened on the way to the courthouse. The prosecution has built a case that does not rest solely on the testimony of Michael Cohen. David Pecker, former CEO of American Media and publisher of the National Enquirer, has already begun his testimony and is scheduled to provide more testimony on Tuesday."

Additionally, Bresca contends, "a common tactic of the trial lawyer who knows the testimony of a witness is likely to span more than one day is to hold the most damaging stuff for the second day of the testimony. That way, the adversary will not have the overnight recess to prepare the cross-examination on the testimony that is most harmful to their client."

Furthermore, ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal — whose story was "allegedly suppressed by the National Enquirer" like Stormy Daniels's, the legal ethics expert notes — is expected to testify, along with ex-Trump aide Hope Hicks.

Moreover, Bresca adds, Bragg's team has said "they are going to present documentary evidence and recordings of Donald Trump that, they assert, will corroborate the larger story."

READ MORE: Trump prosecutors quickly hit lawyer for claim he made to jury

The Lawyer Nation: The Past, Present, and Future of the American Legal Profession author emphasizes, "And it is that larger story that is going to be bigger than Michael Cohen alone."

Bresca notes, "As every good trial lawyer knows, however, it is the former employees who can often make great witnesses, not bad ones," before concluding, "Regardless of what they had hoped to accomplish through all of these efforts to prevent the larger story from seeing the light of day, that strategy has failed. Because of that failure, they’re probably going to have to try a different approach if they hope to secure an acquittal."

Bresca's full op-ed is available here (subscription required).



from Alternet.org https://ift.tt/sCP59Rz
via sinceretalk

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PA GOP Senate candidate who says he 'started with nothing' actually grew up in a mansion

Image
David McCormick, who is Pennsylvania's presumptive Republican U.S. Senate nominee, has often suggested he grew up poor in a rural community. But a new report finds that his upbringing was far more affluent than he's suggested. The New York Times reported Friday that McCormick — a former hedge fund executive who lived in Connecticut as recently as 2022 — has been cagey with voters about his childhood. McCormick has tweeted that he was "raised in Bloomsburg working on his family's farm," said on a 2022 podcast that he " started with nothing " and told CBS News that same year that he " didn't have anything " growing up as the son of two schoolteachers. But according to the Times , McCormick's father, Dr. James H. McCormick , was appointed president of what is now Bloomsburg University by Gov. Milton Schapp (D) in 1973. He moved his family into Buckalew Place — the official mansion for presidents of the school that currently spans 5...
Read more

How misinformation could shape the Israel-Hamas war

Image
I wanted to interview Nicholas Grossman regarding the role of misinformation in the war between Israel and Hamas. In particular, I hoped to ask the professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, and senior editor of Arc Digital , about misinformation that arose from American reporting on an explosion at a hospital in Gaza. You know what? I ended up repeating a bit of misinformation! I asked him to lay out the facts about a blast that “killed hundreds, including kids,” and he said nuh-uh (not his words). In fact, Professor Grossman said, “there never were hundreds killed by an explosion at that hospital. Media reported that the hospital was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike killing 500, but that was based on something a Hamas-controlled agency said and was never supported by evidence.” Professor Grossman went on to say “what apparently did happen is something hit a nearby parking lot and caused a smaller explosion, most likely a rocket fired from Gaza towards I...
Read more

Trump was hit by glass fragments — not a bullet: report

Image
Law enforcement officials have claimed to two different sources that former President Donald Trump was not grazed by a bullet but rather by glass shards. The officials in question told both Newsmax's Alex Salvi and Axios' Juliegrace Brufke that Trump was hit by glass shards that may have erupted from the shattering of a teleprompter that was hit by gunfire. Earlier on Saturday, law enforcement sources confirmed that the person suspected of firing a weapon at a Pennsylvania Trump rally had been killed, as had at least one person in the crowd. Videos showed Trump grabbing his neck after apparent gunshots had been fired before Secret Service agents pulled him to the ground. They then took him away in an armored vehicle to a hospital where he was treated for injuries. The identity of the shooting suspect has not yet been released. from Alternet.org https://ift.tt/ILgqr53 via sinceretalk
Read more